“Alien species of plants and animals have invaded every continent. They have enormous powers; they spread disease; they devour our buildings. Some are destroying the very land under our feet. Think of them as the first wave of an assault that could drive the greatest mass extinction since the end of the dinosaurs. What is causing this invasion, and what can we do to stop the rising tide?”
Group 3: Impact Soil
A while ago, an invader species came into Hawaii. It was the Miconia, a native species from Mexico. From Mexico, it was imported to Europe, and finally Hawaii. It was beautiful, with large leaves and purple undersides. People liked it and it soon flourished throughout island. It eventually caused erosion and land slides. How does it do it? Miconia is a large plant with shallow roots. The shade of the plants blocked sunlight from other plants, causing the native plants to die. The shallow roots loosened the soil, and rain easily swept the land away. People are trying to stop this by
investigating the plant, from canopy to land. Scientist study each of the leaves and seeds, and try to find away to stop Miconias.Using remote sensing, they pick up signs of the plant where the human eye can't see. Average people can help too. Many fight against the plant for their own homes and world. They dig up the plants and try to get rid of them.
We could try to apply some chemicals that only kills Miconias or put in some bugs that kill. The only problem is that the bugs might eat other native Hawaii plants too....We might have to invent something new....
Our ability to recognize Earth as a contained system came into focus when astronauts glimpsed our tiny blue home from space merely decades ago. At that time, we were able to view Earth in all its glory... and its vulnerability — a finite spaceship planet suspended in the velvet black void of space. This view came not a moment too soon. Our planet has been experiencing increasingly rapid changes due to our highly effective global capacity to extract and utilize resources. To more fully understand the degree of our impacts across the world, we need to more fully understand Earth as a system. Remote sensing is now offering us the kind of global, continuous and repeatable observations of Earth systems that we need in order to grasp and manage our growing planetary impact. A new interdisciplinary field has emerged called Earth System Science (ESS) that embraces remote sensing and weaves together formerly disparate sciences as terrestrial ecology, oceanography and climatology. For more information see Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century " 75/75 points
“Alien species of plants and animals have invaded every continent. They have enormous powers; they spread disease; they devour our buildings. Some are destroying the very land under our feet. Think of them as the first wave of an assault that could drive the greatest mass extinction since the end of the dinosaurs. What is causing this invasion, and what can we do to stop the rising tide?”
Group 3: Impact Soil
A while ago, an invader species came into Hawaii. It was the Miconia, a native species from Mexico. From Mexico, it was imported to Europe, and finally Hawaii. It was beautiful, with large leaves and purple undersides. People liked it and it soon flourished throughout island. It eventually caused erosion and land slides. How does it do it? Miconia is a large plant with shallow roots. The shade of the plants blocked sunlight from other plants, causing the native plants to die. The shallow roots loosened the soil, and rain easily swept the land away. People are trying to stop this by
investigating the plant, from canopy to land. Scientist study each of the leaves and seeds, and try to find away to stop Miconias.Using remote sensing, they pick up signs of the plant where the human eye can't see. Average people can help too. Many fight against the plant for their own homes and world. They dig up the plants and try to get rid of them.
We could try to apply some chemicals that only kills Miconias or put in some bugs that kill. The only problem is that the bugs might eat other native Hawaii plants too....We might have to invent something new....
Good Job summarizing the story. Here is some more information on how they are tracking it with remote sensing from the Strange Days Website. http://www.pbs.org/strangedays/episodes/invaders/experts/miconia.html
"The Importance of Remote Sensing
Spectral images show Miconia (in red)
Remote sensing is now offering us the kind of global, continuous and repeatable observations of Earth systems that we need in order to grasp and manage our growing planetary impact. A new interdisciplinary field has emerged called Earth System Science (ESS) that embraces remote sensing and weaves together formerly disparate sciences as terrestrial ecology, oceanography and climatology. For more information see Earth System Science Education for the 21st Century "
75/75 points